Bracket Busters When the Bracket Busters concept was drawn up, the initial selling point was to highlight schools from mid-major conferences and give them a chance to enhance their resumes as Selection Sunday approaches.
means exposure
An NCAA Tournament berth
isn’t on the line today vs. Kent State,
but UH’s reputation isBy Jason Kaneshiro
However, for the Hawaii basketball team, the value of today's game at Kent State amounts to little more than some extra face time on ESPN2.
When: Today, 4:30 p.m. Hawaii at Kent State
Where: Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
TV: Live, ESPN2
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
But at this point, the Rainbows will take it.
"The publicity is good for the (Western Athletic Conference), and it's good for Hawaii and Kent State," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "You play on national television and win ... then you do some good."
A sellout crowd is expected at the 6,327-seat Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center for the game, unless a storm system rolling toward the northeast Ohio region keeps folks at home.
The Rainbows (14-8) saw their hopes for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament evaporate with a 1-7 mark on the road, including six losses in a row.
But a win could bolster their hopes for a National Invitation Tournament bid should they fail to win next month's WAC tournament and earn an automatic berth to the NCAAs.
The game holds a bit more significance for Kent State, which at 18-5 still harbors hopes for an at-large bid despite a recent three-game slide. The Golden Flashes ended the skid with a 98-55 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday.
The Golden Flashes lead the Mid-American Conference's East Division at 11-4 after losing three starters and their head coach from last year's 30-6 squad that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
KSU head coach Jim Christian, an assistant last year, took over the program when Stan Heath went to Arkansas, and he has the Flashes on their way to their fifth consecutive 20-win season.
"It'll be a tough place to play," Wallace said. "Everybody tells me you have to be ready for them, they're tough at home."
Today's game provides a break from the conference grind for the Rainbows.
"Kent State doesn't know a whole lot about us and hopefully they didn't have much time to prepare for us," UH guard Carl English said. "In conference everybody knows what you're doing. This is a fresh team and hopefully we can run our stuff to perfection and they'll have a tough time guarding it."
KSU won the only meeting between the schools 91-78 in 1958.
"They can look at film, but you can't really tell, just like us with them," Wallace said. "We know what we have to do, but until you get there, it's a little different."
The Rainbows' defense will be tested by one of the nation's top shooting teams. The Golden Flashes are seventh in the country in field-goal shooting at 49.8 percent and fourth in 3-point shooting at 41.1 percent. They make an average of 7.5 shots per game from beyond the arc.
Kent State forward Antonio Gates, a nimble 6-foot-5, 250-pounder, leads the team with 20.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Gates suffered a thigh bruise against Buffalo and played just six minutes. He sat out practice the last two days, but is expected to play today.
Wallace said UH forward Phil Martin will draw the defensive assignment on Gates, who does much of his damage on penetration, but can also pound opponents in the post.
"He's involved in everything," Wallace said. "He likes to take the ball off the dribble and penetrate and throw it to the (shooters)."
Gates is complemented by the outside shooting of guard Eric Haut, who averages 15.4 points per game. The Flashes also get solid production out of 6-9 forward Nate Gerwig (9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and 6-7 guard Anthony Wilkins (9.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg).
"They're very unselfish," Wallace said. "They play well together and look for each other."
Hawaii point guard Mark Campbell fell ill yesterday and sat out the team's practice, but Wallace said the senior will be in the starting lineup today. Reserve forward Nkeruwem Akpan also had some pain in his left shoulder, but should be ready by tip-off as well.
Despite the Rainbows' struggles on the road and the inconvenience of traveling to Ohio in the middle of the conference season, Wallace won't bad-mouth the Bracket Busters event.
Three of the four WAC teams playing today are on the road. Along with the UH game at Kent State, Fresno State plays at No. 17 Creighton and Tulsa plays at Gonzaga. All three will be televised nationally.
"We were on (WAC) commissioner (Karl Benson) to get more television games for the WAC, and you have to start somewhere," Wallace said. "The Mountain West took the contract when they broke away, so there was nothing left for the WAC. So we had to start over and this is a start.
"We have to go out and show we can beat some of those people at their house. It would help the conference a lot if we get a win."
UH Athletics Kent State University Athletics
